1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to virtual reality and more particularly to virtual world management over a computer communications network.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the progenitor to the modern virtual world, the multi-user dungeon provided a revolutionary experience for its first participants more than three decades ago. The multi-user dungeon was and continues to be a multi-player computer game that combines elements of role-playing, first person shooter and social chat. The multi-user dungeon generally executes in a central server configured for simultaneous access by participants over a global computer communications network like the Internet. The multi-user dungeon historically has been text-driven where the immediate environment is presented to participants in text form, and participants engage in actions in the environment through textual directives mimicking the postings of an instant messenger. Non-player characters in the multi-user dungeon can be automated and the actions of the non-player characters can be broadcast to the participants also as textual postings.
Like a multi-user dungeon, virtual reality allows a user to interact with a computer-simulated environment; however in virtual reality, the virtual environment is visual in nature and can be displayed either on a computer screen or through customized or stereoscopic displays. Advanced modes of virtual reality further incorporate other sensory presentation elements, including audio elements and tactile elements. Generally, end-users interact with a virtual reality environment through traditional keyboard and mouse movements, though other input means are provided occasionally including gyroscopic handheld devices and gloves, and joysticks. Consistent throughout all virtual reality experiences, the virtual reality environment reflects the real world environment and has proven invaluable in commercial applications such as flight simulation or combat training.
The virtual world builds upon the multi-user dungeon and virtual reality in order to provide a computer-based simulated environment in which participants interact with one another through three-dimensional visually displayable surrogates referred to as avatars. In this regard, participants “inhabit” the virtual world through their respective avatars. In as much as avatars can freely roam the bounds of the virtual world, virtual worlds expand the boundaries of the multi-user dungeon and permit participants to truly enjoy freedom of motion and exploration within the virtual world. To date, virtual worlds have become such close approximations to reality that the lines of reality have become blurred to the extent that many participants treat ordinary interactions in the virtual world with the same degree of seriousness as those same interactions in the real world.
Avatars for users in a virtual world can maintain an awareness of each other's presence when the avatars are both present in a same location in the virtual world. Flexibly, if an avatar is marked as a “friend” of another avatar, both avatars will be visible to one another irrespective of whether or not the avatars are in the same location in the virtual world. Yet, all other avatars will remain unnoticed by each other so long as the other avatars are in disparate locations in the virtual world.